PotC fic: We Have an Accord (4/4) [Elizabeth/Hector/Jack/James/Will, adult]
Title: We Have an Accord (part 4)Authors: celandineb and cruisedirectorFandom: Pirates of the CaribbeanPairings: Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann/Hector Barbossa/James Norrington/Will Turner, in pretty much any permutation you can imagine, Also, Calypso/Davy Jones.Rating: adultLength: ~37,000 words total; ~7800 in this partWarnings: Multiple twosomes, threesome, foursome, open marriage, oral sex, anal sex, hints of voyeurism. No tentacles.Summary: With the aid of the late Will Turner and James Norrington, Elizabeth Swann strikes a deal with Captains Sparrow and Barbossa for passage to the Fountain of Youth.Note: We began this long, long ago in 2007, and are pleased to be able to present it at last in 2011! Spoilers for POTC:AWE, not canonical with POTC:OST.

The earth shook again, and they all stumbled, Ragetti actually falling over. Mullroy and Murtogg carried one full barrel of the Water of Life, Crimp and Matelot the other. Jack watched with well-disguised anxiety to make sure that neither barrel lost any of the precious fluid. They were nearly back to the shore; he would have only one chance, at best, to purloin a barrel and retake the Pearl.

Murtogg had been reluctant to go along with Jack's plans, but Jack had convinced him that Barbossa was unlikely to share the Water with all the crew, not when he could sell it for a fortune. Jack had miscalculated, choosing Pintel and Ragetti to test the stuff. They were the most expendable, true, but since the Water had worked, they had little incentive to aid Jack, not after mutinying against him twice. He had had to fall back on the erstwhile Royal Navy sailors.

"What is that?" Elizabeth's voice was unaccustomedly shrill.

"'Tis naught but an earthquake, my dear." Hector sounded as hearty and assured as usual, but Jack had seen him clutch at the tree he was skirting when the earth moved. "As soon as we reach the ship, all will be well."

Jack knew the dangers; a quake could set not just the earth to moving, but the waters too. Well out to sea, it was of no consequence, but on shore the waves could become enormous, racing further inland than during even the greatest of equinoctial storms. If that happened, Jack stood no chance of seeing his plans succeed.

He edged closer to Murtogg and spoke in an undertone.

"Now."

The barrel was difficult for one man to carry, but not impossible, to Jack's relief. He was ready when Murtogg shrieked and let go; Mullroy's following suit was unexpected.

"Indians!" cried out Murtogg, dancing up and down and pointing back in the direction from which they had come.

Everyone but Jack turned to look, their hands automatically drawing swords or pistols. Crimp and Matelot dropped their barrel of the precious water, but neither Barbossa nor Elizabeth seemed to notice, so focused were the two of them on the trees behind which any number of natives might be hiding. The barrel rolled but did not shatter, which was just as well, since the others would be much quicker to look around for the one that Jack held if it proved to be the only one to survive.

"Protect that barrel!" Jack barked at Matelot to sound as if he were doing something useful. Then he took off running. Or rather, he took off running as well as a man could run while carrying a large and heavy burden nearly as tall as he was himself. He was counting on Barbossa and Elizabeth believing that his intention was to save the treasure rather than to escape with it. Another rumble shook the ground, almost causing Jack to stumble, but at least it was making things just as difficult for Barbossa and his men.

Mullroy and Murtogg were close behind him, just as he had ordered, though moving more slowly than Jack would have liked. So much for the legend of vaunted Royal Navy discipline creating superior physical specimens. They were nearly to the shore now, where the boats would be waiting to take them to the Pearl. He gestured for the two men to take the barrel from him.

"Aren't we going to help the others?" asked Mullroy, clearly confused.

"There's no actual Indians," Murtogg reminded him, shaking his head as he hoisted the barrel with a grunt.

"But the earthquakes. There could be a tidal wave..."

"Which is why we must get the Black Pearl out to sea as quickly as possible," Jack interrupted. "Your orders are to protect the Water of Life at all costs. Isn't that what Captain Barbossa said?"

"But if Captain Barbossa falls behind, then why do we have to follow his orders? I say we leave the Water and save ourselves!"

"Just keep moving," Jack ordered, pushing aside long, leafy brush and emerging on the sand. There were the boats, right where they'd left them, and he could see the Pearl out in the churning sea. All they needed to do now was to get the barrel with the Water into a boat, then reach the Pearl before Barbossa and the others could catch up with them. Gibbs would have the crew ready. It had been easier than Jack had ever imagined...

He heard a whoop behind him, then a scream. Like the fools they were, Murtogg and Mullroy had dropped the barrel again, and this time they could all see that it was leaking, a small pool forming where the elixir of eternal youth was flowing out. But Jack had a bigger problem.

"Indians," he sighed. "And me with only one shot for my pistol."

There was no possibility of getting both himself and the barrel of Water to one of the longboats without a very high risk of being dispatched by an Indian before he reached it. Indeed, the two men waiting with the boats had already heard the commotion and were pushing off, heading back for the Pearl. Jack could hardly blame them -- he would have done the same -- but it was less than convenient.

"Right." He turned and drew his sword. "Time to fight, lads. We've no choice now."

The brush parted. Elizabeth, Hector, and the other crewmen pelted out; Matelot and Crimp staggering and panting, but still holding their barrel. Elizabeth cut a fine figure while running, especially with her bosom enhanced by her breeding status, but Jack ignored her, waiting for the Indians to appear behind them.

To his surprise Elizabeth stopped next to him. Her hat had fallen off and her hair tumbled loose around her shoulders. She stood with her legs braced wide, her hands on her hips, and let out a blood-curdling whoop.

Jack expected a returning shout, but there was only silence. He gave Elizabeth a quizzical look.

"Sound familiar?" she asked sweetly.

The blood drained from Jack's face. Elizabeth! It had been she who made the war-cry and sent himself, Mullroy, and Murtogg running.

"You... you..." he spluttered, stymied. "You tricked me!"

"Pirate," Elizabeth said, and gave a mocking little bow. "Pirate king; and you know a ruler must surpass her subjects."

"Murtogg," she addressed the man crisply. "Turn that barrel over. I can see the leak is just at the end and there's no need to lose all of the Water."

He hastened to obey and saluted her as he straightened.

Jack was pleased to see the men in the boats coming back, looking sheepish at having been deceived. "So what now, majesty?" he asked, sliding his sword back into his sheath.

"I say leave him here," suggested Barbossa.

Elizabeth shook her head. "He escaped being marooned on a tiny island, twice. Leaving him on the Florida mainland? No. I'd rather have him under my eye." The corner of her mouth twitched up; Jack hoped that meant she was thinking what he was thinking, that she would rather have him under other parts of her anatomy as well.

Barbossa still looked like he thought leaving Jack might be a better idea, but Elizabeth stared him down, and eventually Barbossa shrugged. "A few days in the brig won't do him any harm."

"In the brig? I must protest." Jack had recovered himself sufficiently to remove and wave his hat. "While I realize that I did not, strictly speaking, adhere to the plan, it must be agreed by all present that I fulfilled my primary obligation to protect the Water of Life..."

"And you were going to protect it all the way back to the Caribbean on my ship, were ye not?" demanded Barbossa.

"If you mean the Pearl..." But Elizabeth had now turned upon Jack the glare she had previously used to defend Jack to Barbossa, and Jack was forced to conclude that a bit of discretion might be called for. "You know full well that her brig requires extensive repairs," Jack finished instead.

"Gentlemen, every moment we stand here arguing is another moment when the water in that cracked barrel continues to drip out." There was no arguing with Elizabeth's logic. "Mullroy and Murtogg, find something with which to cover and bind that crack. Barbossa, you take the other, with Crimp, Matelot, Pintel, and Ragetti. I will see that these men and this barrel safely follows."

Barbossa looked like he might object, not so much to the plan as to being ordered about, but since Elizabeth had been the one to ruin Jack's plans, he finally scowled and nodded. "What about Norrington?" he asked.

"I must assume that Calypso will return him to the ship. She has never had any trouble finding it before," said Elizabeth.

"If your husband didn't manage to deliver the Water of Life to Davy Jones, we may all wish that she never does," Jack reminded them.

"I trust Will to do what is necessary." Elizabeth tossed her hair, giving Jack another fine glimpse of her clothing tight across her bosom. "In any case, we can do nothing to affect that outcome. Mullroy, have you managed to stop that leak?"

The former Navy officer had jammed a bit of alligator skin into the crack. "Be better if we had some tar," he said.

"I suppose that will have to do, for now." The men by now had stowed the barrels onto the boats. "Gentlemen, the sooner we are away, the safer we and our cargo will be. The fact that we have not been attacked by real Indians does not mean --"

Precisely at that moment, a spear flew out of the trees. "Push off!" Barbossa shouted, and there was a great flurry of activity getting the boats into the water once more while what Jack assumed was the tribe that guarded the Fountain of Youth began to appear on the beach.

"Your cries doubtless alerted them," he pointed out to Elizabeth, even as he helped her clamber over the side and settle down in the boat.

She tilted her head. "Worried that you might be captured and sacrificed again? I haven't heard that the Florida Indians are cannibals like those of Pelegosto. Nor would I expect the famous Captain Jack Sparrow to be so cautious."

Murtogg and Mullroy were rowing steadily, but the other boat had already begun to outdistance them, having four men at the oars.

"Shall we assist?" Jack reached for one of the spare oars. "Barbossa does have the full barrel of the Water of Life, and he will reach the Pearl before us."

Elizabeth shifted to sit behind Mullroy, opposite Jack, and picked up an oar. She rowed surprisingly well, and they reached the ship only moments after the other boat, while Pintel was still clambering up the rope ladder. The precious barrel must have been hauled up first.

When Jack's head rose above the railing, the first person he saw was Gibbs, looking -- for him -- quite doleful.

"Cap'n, er, that is, Jack," Gibbs said, with a jerk of his head toward Barbossa. "I have orders to put you in the brig."

"Belay those orders," said Elizabeth crisply as she climbed over the rail. "Jack is not subject to your captain; he is mine."

Everyone whirled to look. Ragetti was correct. It was difficult to detect the tremor of an earthquake while at sea, but they could all see the trees swaying, some of them toppling over even as they watched.

"Gibbs, set a course for Tortuga," ordered Barbossa, at the same moment as Elizabeth said, "It's time to leave."

~~~

"Tie that down!" Barbossa was roaring as Elizabeth headed to the ladder, intending to follow the barrels with the water to see that they were properly stowed. She was stopped by a hand gripping her arm.

"We need to talk," Hector said. He was not smiling.

She shook her arm free, narrowing her eyes. "If this is about Jack..."

"Jack be the least of it. Crimp! Get those nets stowed!" The trip to Florida had been a success in more ways than one: while she, James, Jack, Hector, and their men had found the Fountain of Youth, Gibbs and the crew left on the Black Pearl had caught enough fish for a voyage across the Atlantic. If only they had had more time to gather fruit while on the shore, they might have sailed around the world... or as far as the rum lasted, at any rate.

Crossing her arms, Elizabeth leaned against a gun to wait until Barbossa had finished shouting orders. A moment later she found herself clutching at it to stay upright as the sea heaved around them.

"We find ourselves tossed in unnatural weather," Hector snapped at her. "If the Dutchman has reached the Locker, why has Norrington not returned? The sea goddess would seem to be unhappy."

"Perhaps she is shaking with pleasure," retorted Elizabeth, half-lowering her eyelids and imitating a shudder she felt certain Hector would recognize. Indeed, his eyes widened and for a moment he appeared to forget whatever it was that he had wished to say.

"Haul that pallet line!" she heard Jack shout. Hector's head swung around, and when he looked back at Elizabeth, his lips had flattened.

"A ship must have one captain. One," he said. "You will cease to give me orders, and you will not countermand those I give."

"I'm still not letting you put Jack in the brig," she replied, catching a rope as it swung free and twisting it around the nearest belaying pin. "A ship's crew must have confidence in its captain for its morale. I told you that Jack would not lead a mutiny, and he has not. What can he do to you now? If you wish to secure your claim on the Pearl, the best thing you could possibly do would be to seem entirely unconcerned about Jack's ineffective attempts to retake it."

"Is it?" Elizabeth secured another line. "Tell me, has Jack ever succeeded in his elaborate schemes? I know of none that worked, not as originally planned."

Hector snorted. "Nevertheless, my point remains. If two, or worse, three 'captains' give contradictory orders, what is the crew to do? It is manifestly an untenable situation, and I'll not have it on my ship."

"Your ship?" Jack's grin had a few too many teeth in it as he appeared behind Hector.

"Mine." Hector's expression was equally adamant.

"Gentlemen," said Elizabeth, stepping between them. "While I agree this situation begs for a resolution, might I suggest that we first get ourselves out of danger, lest there be no ship over which to quarrel?"

The men scowled, but Hector went aft to take charge of the wheel from Gibbs, while Jack hurried forward and bawled orders at the men raising sail on the fore and main masts. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and hoped that James would turn up soon.

Her hope was rewarded. Calypso did not put in an appearance, but when Elizabeth returned from the captain's quarters, where she had seen that the two kegs of water were secured -- the one carefully turned so that its leaky spot was on top -- James was there on the deck, looking out at the tossing sea.

"James!" she said in relief. "You succeeded in finding Jones?"

He nodded. "Will persuaded him to drink the Water, and Calypso took him away with her. I gather that Jack did not manage to steal his ship back?"

"Not for want of trying," Elizabeth said. "He feigned an attack by Indians, but I guessed his trick... and then a real band of them appeared, at the same time as the first earthquake hit."

"You've been busy. Were you able to bring any of the Water away with you?"

"Two barrels full," she replied, not without pride in her voice. "Though one has leaked a bit. They're in the Great Cabin."

"With someone guarding them, I hope?"

"Pintel and Ragetti," she nodded. She had thought it best for the moment to leave the barrels under the supervision of the two men who no longer had anything to gain from their contents. The ship lurched, hurling her forward, and James caught her. "But what happened with Calypso? She said that she would protect us if we did her bidding, and these seas are anything but calm."

"Perhaps Calypso knows that if she keeps Sparrow and Barbossa busy, they won't have time to plot against each other," replied James, smiling at her. "And perhaps while they are busy..."

"Norrington! I'd thought to put you down for a deserter!" Barbossa's bellow reached them loud and clear over the hollers on deck and the noisy waves against the sides of the ship. "Make yourself useful, get below and secure the armory!"

With a sigh, James released Elizabeth, who promised, "We'll catch up later. Once we're away, whichever of us is not needed on deck should be guarding the Water." She didn't think it would take much effort to convince Hector to let her sleep in his bed.

As they made sail from Florida, Elizabeth began to wonder whether James wasn't correct that the storm was intended as a distraction. The sea was turbulent enough to keep the crew busy yet not so turbulent that she ever feared for the ship. Both Barbossa and Jack were cross, but though some harsh words were exchanged, nobody drew a sword or a pistol.

She smiled at Hector, knowing that it was far more essential for her to make peace with him than with Jack -- for one thing, he still had control of the ship and crew, and for another, she'd been correct that Jack and his schemes were hardly reliable. "I assume you have a plan for when we reach Tortuga?" she asked.

"Aye," he replied, returning her smile with a enigmatic grin. "Will you be wanting your share of the Water, or have you come to ask me to ferry you to some other location?"

Elizabeth cocked her head, considering. She had no intention of giving birth to her child in Tortuga, nor had she entire confidence in Calypso's herb-brews. Though she had a passing acquaintance with some midwives in Port Royal, she no longer felt that it was her home, after what had happened to her father there. All her remaining relatives were in England, and while they had sent the occasional letter, she hadn't seen any of them since she was a young girl.

Hector threw back his head and laughed. "You expect me to sail around the whole of Britain to deposit you in a notorious smuggler's town? What would be the reward for this very dangerous venture?"

She stepped closer. "You wouldn't do it merely for the honor of escorting the Pirate King?"

"I would prefer something more tangible," he said with a gleam in his eye.

"That could be negotiated," Elizabeth agreed. "Need we stop at Tortuga at all, come to that? If you are to take me east, the island is scarcely on the way."

"The crew expects Tortuga to be our destination." Hector scratched at his scraggly beard. "I misdoubt that any of them would mutiny at the notion of a change of course, however; they are mostly wanted for various crimes here in the Caribbean, but might not be so well known in the North Sea."

"Done, then." She smiled sweetly.

"Now wait a moment," he countered. "That was no accord we made, merely a suggestion on your part. As I said, I have plans in Tortuga, plans for which delay could be... hazardous."

"Surely there is something that would make it worth your while?" Elizabeth fluttered her eyelashes at him and inhaled deeply.

"I might be persuadable, at that." Hector cocked his head at the deck above. "Curse those louts! We'll settle our agreement later." He stalked out, muttering to himself.

Elizabeth checked that neither barrel had sprung another leak, nor been tapped illicitly. Both were secure. She stretched out on the captain's berth, intending merely to rest a short time, until Hector returned.

She startled awake. The sun had set, and only faint pale moonlight illuminated the cabin. Outside the storm still blew; what noise, then, had roused her?

"Who's there?" she said, keeping her voice steady.

~~~

"It is my cabin." Hector watched from the shadows as Elizabeth reached for a weapon that was not there. "In fact, that is my bed."

"So it is." He watched while Elizabeth rubbed her eyes, still looking delightfully drowsy and tousled. "Have you left the command deck to Jack?"

"I haven't lost my mind. Norrington has the deck. Jack is probably in the hold, looking for something of mine to steal." His favorite chair had skidded from the table, and Hector pulled it closer to Elizabeth before he sat. "I believe that we have a negotiation to complete."

"I want passage for myself and James across the Atlantic," she said promptly. "As soon as possible, before winter ice can make the journey difficult. I've no intention of giving birth at sea."

Hector leaned over to the table for an apple. Upon consideration, he took a second for Elizabeth and handed it to her. "You don't think the sea goddess will protect you and your spawn after what you've done for her?" he asked.

"If Calypso could not be trusted to appear on the one day in ten years when her lover could be with her on land, I can't be confident that she'll look out for me. And I don't suppose anyone on this crew has experience delivering babies."

That was likely the case, and even if she were wrong, Hector had no wish to play host to a screaming infant, no matter how attractive the mother. He wondered whether Elizabeth might be persuaded in a few months to leave the child with her family and return to sea with himself. This was not the time for such a conversation, however. "So you want me to take you to England, without stopping in Tortuga to fulfill my obligations," he mused aloud.

"To Robin Hood's Bay. A smuggler's town. Surely there must be matters of interest to you there."

"And why is it of interest to you? You don't sound like a Yorkshire lass. Are you planning to launch a raid on Scandinavian ports? I doubt that your friend Norrington will approve."

"Let me worry about Norrington." She smiled charmingly. "Have you heard of the Almirante di Florencia? She is said to have gone down in Tobermory Bay after the Spanish Armada, with her gold and treasure intact."

"Aye, and how do you propose to penetrate the waters off Mull to find a wreck that has lain there since 1588?" Hector demanded. "Not to mention the small problem that it's on the opposite side of the island."

"My point was that there are many unclaimed treasures in Britain. And I have family there to protect me. As my guest, they would treat you well."

"And if I take advantage of your family's hospitality? Smuggling is more work than piracy, and breaking into the business might not be well-taken by the locals, even if any of me crew were to attempt it. Jack is not the man to put in charge of such an effort." He crunched into the apple for emphasis.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Pay the crew off, then, and hire new men when you wish to leave. I would suggest offering them cash rather than a share of the Water, myself."

"We never have reached an accord on the appropriate division of those spoils," Hector pointed out.

"Six shares." The wench had evidently given it some thought. "One each for you, me, James, and Jack; two to divide amongst the men, except that Ragetti and Pintel's are reduced since they already drank some."

Hector thought about it. The crew would have to receive something; his original mutiny against Sparrow had succeeded because he had convinced the men that they deserved a reasonable share of the Aztec treasure. A few of those men were still on the Pearl, and they would not have forgotten his arguments then. He doubted Elizabeth would agree to less than a full share for Sparrow, curse the man. With a little reluctance he admitted that Norrington deserved one, if for no other reason than that without him Elizabeth would probably not be here now.

"Done." He spat on his hand and held it out to her.

She did not hesitate before doing the same, shaking his hand to seal the bargain. He held on to hers.

"D'you know why another word for oath is testimony?"

"No."

"An oath should be sworn on a sacred object, and old custom had it that a man's virility was the most sacred thing he possessed, so they swore on the testes, hence 'testimony'." Hector grinned. "We could stretch a point for you, and let you vow on your bosom."

"That hardly seems like the most sacred thing I possess." She rested her hand over her belly, which was still only faintly rounded, then slid it lower. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Hector knew that he was staring. In the previous weeks, there wasn't a spot on her body where Elizabeth had not let him put his hands and mouth, but she had never spread her legs for him -- nor, as he understood it from the complaints he had overheard, for Jack. "I might need to conduct a bit of study to be sure," he said, his mouth suddenly dry. He'd never made love to a pregnant woman -- at least, not to one who'd bothered to tell him about it at the time. Who knew, with whores?

Elizabeth smiled at him. "As you said, I am in your bed." She settled back against the fine stolen sheets, which Hector's crew had kindly washed for him while he was on shore. He didn't want to imagine who might have been sneaking into the cabin, and for what, that they had felt that need. "I suppose it's large enough for two."

Hector started to rise out of his chair, then hesitated, frowning. "All joking aside, I would not have you offer me payment in any coin not to your liking. There are other bargains to be struck..."

"Captain Barbossa," Elizabeth interrupted him indignantly. "Do I seem so desperate that I would sell myself only to consummate a deal?" She huffed softly. "If it is not to your liking, then perhaps you could tell me another story about raiding with Don Rafael..."

He didn't let her finish, crossing to the bed and reaching to unlace her bodice. Her bosom might not be the most precious thing she possessed, but it was very fine nonetheless, and he was eager to see it. She moaned to encourage him, sliding a hand over the front of his breeches as his mouth found her earlobe and sucked it.

"You always start without me, and here I'd left Gibbs in command to avoid that very thing." The voice, which came from across the cabin, was more amused than reproachful, but Hector muttered a curse nonetheless.

"Damn you, Norrington, can't you see we're busy?"

"I can." James crossed into the moonlight through the windows, smiling, taking a seat in the chair Hector had vacated. "Carry on, please. I'm sure I can guard Elizabeth from here."

She smiled so sweetly at Norrington that it made Hector scowl again. "You only want to watch?"

"I'm afraid, Captain Swann, that your husband rather wore me out."

Elizabeth's laugh sounded pleased rather than envious. "All right, then, you can tell me about it while Hector gets me out of these awful rags."

"So you want a bedtime story?" James chuckled. "Will asked me for the same."

"Yes, please..." Elizabeth's response was cut off by a gasp as Hector licked her newly-bared nipple.

He couldn't help hearing Norrington's enthusiastic and detailed description of Will Turner's assets and the uses to which the man put them, even as he explored anew the body that had begun to swell with Turner's child. It seemed unlikely that Hector would ever have the chance to appraise those assets for himself, but he found he enjoyed hearing about them.

So did Elizabeth, writhing in response to both Hector's touch and James's words.

Hector stripped the last of her clothes from her and laid her down across the bed, standing back to admire the wanton way that she stretched her limbs out.

"I might have to change my mind," James commented at the sight.

Hector quashed his first impulse -- somehow he doubted Elizabeth would appreciate it if he clouted Norrington across the face -- and said, albeit through gritted teeth, "The lady has the privilege of deciding, I believe."

"Am I invited too?" Sparrow's voice drawled from the doorway.

This time Hector couldn't help cursing, though he managed to keep it under his breath so that only James heard. Better him than Elizabeth.

"And I suppose we're safer with him here than on deck while we are otherwise distracted," said James. "At least I believe Mister Gibbs is relatively sober tonight."

"Now that the seas have calmed, I'm certain that Mister Gibbs can manage the crew." Jack strode over, standing shoulder to shoulder with Elizabeth, gazing down at her greedily. "Well, love? Am I invited?"

Elizabeth's eyes drifted from Jack to Hector and back again. "It seems only fair that you should have to wait, since you did try to steal the Water and the ship."

"I did no such..."

"James, would you mind very much shutting him up?"

Laughing, James kicked out one foot, catching Jack around the ankle and tugging. "I believe the lady would prefer you muzzled. I have just the thing to keep your mouth occupied."

"It wasn't the thing I had in mind," Jack complained, but he turned around willingly enough, watching as Norrington spread his knees.

That was all the attention Hector was willing to spare them. Sitting back on the bunk, he returned his mouth to Elizabeth's bosom, which was indeed an asset worthy to swear an oath upon. She moaned softly, fingers sliding into Hector's hair.

"I believe, Captain, that you still have your breeches on. Let me help you with those."

If Hector Barbossa had ever seen a more alluring sight than Elizabeth Swann bending over, naked, hair falling around her face with its wicked smile, as she reached for the laces on his clothing, he could not now remember what it had been. Certainly not mermaids or sirens or sea goddesses. He heard James groan behind him, but whether that was from looking at the same sight or from whatever Sparrow was doing with his mouth, Hector neither knew nor cared.

Elizabeth made quick work of his clothing despite pausing often to stroke his skin as she bared it. By the time she had finished Hector was more than ready to pin her to the bed, but she directed his mouth to her wet slit first.

She had not expressly promised that he could swive her, yet Hector trusted her to live up to the implicit bargain, so he bent with good will to lave her folds with his tongue, suckling her engorged nub until her quick breaths became moans and she tugged at his hair.

"Enough -- I need --"

Hector's mouth met hers before she could finish. The head of his prick pressed against her moist flesh, probing; he reached down and guided himself into her. She groaned again. The sounds behind them had stopped and Hector supposed that the other two men were watching. He grinned to himself and bit at Elizabeth's neck. They all wanted her, but he had had her first.

Suddenly the bed shifted, and shifted again. More fingers than Elizabeth's stroked Hector's arse, fondling his bollocks, probing between his cheeks. Other hands crept between himself and Elizabeth to stroke her breasts, giving a pinch to Hector's nipples in passing.

"You don't mind, do you Hector?" Elizabeth murmured against his mouth.

He did, but not much. So he shrugged and continued thrusting, varying his pace: a few quick strokes followed by several long slow ones, then pulling nearly all the way out only to revel in Elizabeth's moist heat as he slid back inside her.

Oil dripped between his buttocks.

"This was not part of our agreement," he protested.

"Do you object?" asked James, sounding amused. "I thought you said you liked to receive."

Elizabeth smiled up at him breathlessly. "Can we not expand the agreement? Someone once told me the Pirate code was more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules," she murmured.

Whatever James was doing back there with his fingers, he was, at least, skilled at it. "Sure you're not a pirate, Norrington?" panted Hector between thrusts.

"He is now." Jack, at least, sounded entirely cheerful. He had shifted up behind Elizabeth, who reached a hand back over her head, seeking him. Jack's fingers found hers and drew her palm toward his prick. Some of her hair tangled in their fingers and fell across Sparrow's thighs and groin, apparently to his pleasure.

A finger breached Hector, simultaneously distracting him from and enhancing the feel of Elizabeth's muscles squeezing around his own prick. His hips jerked, which in turn made Elizabeth moan. "Careful, or I may hurt the lady," he growled at James.

"I'll go slowly." James stretched out, carefully lowering his weight against Hector so as not to flatten him over Elizabeth; he kissed the back of his neck. That was something with which Hector had little experience, and he shivered in spite of himself.

James must have felt it, for he pushed Hector's hair aside and continued to kiss across his shoulders and upper back. He was rubbing himself in the oil he had dripped between Hector's buttocks, but not trying to thrust inside... not yet, anyway. "Not crushing you, are we?" he asked Elizabeth.

"No... oh... only in the best way," she moaned, raising her legs higher, so that they pressed against James as well as Hector. This wouldn't be so bad, he thought, if only Norrington and Sparrow would shut up.

Keeping quiet, however, was not Jack's way. "Just like that, love," he murmured to Elizabeth, though Jack himself was the one moving her hand upon himself.

Hector decided that the best thing was to ignore Jack as much as possible, under the circumstances. At least Sparrow was not interfering with Hector's own pleasure in any way; if he had taken one of Elizabeth's hands, Hector still had the other, and one of Norrington's -- James having to use his left hand to prop himself up so as not to squash the two beneath him.

"Ready?" James asked with a nip at Hector's earlobe that sent delightful chills all through him.

In answer Hector could only make a groan that he hoped would be taken as assent, his own mouth being busy teasing one of Elizabeth's nipples.

James evidently understood, for Hector felt himself breached, more firmly than he had expected but without excessive force. As James moved, Hector's own prick pressed deeper into Elizabeth.

They set up a gentle rhythm, each of James's thrusts transmitting its momentum through Hector to Elizabeth. In the background Jack was babbling some nonsense -- doubtless urging Elizabeth on -- but Hector paid no attention to him. He had had quite a lot of experience over many years at sea, yet this particular conjunction was new to him and far more than merely enjoyable. Elizabeth's breath was sweet with apples in his face, her quim warmly inviting, and James's motions had a finesse that delighted at every stroke.

Elizabeth had tilted her hips to grind against him. "Oh -- oh -- oh!" A new spurt of wetness let his prick move slickly within her even as she contracted in flutters around him. "Don't... don't stop," she panted, her eyes huge, her fingernails digging into his back to pull him closer.

"Faster," Hector snarled at James, who obliged.

His climax would come sooner than he might have wished, this way, but he could not deny Elizabeth, not now. The wet heat of her, the throbbing heat of James, together pushed him to the edge, and he spent with a groan that seemed to rise up from his very toes.

~~~

James could feel Hector clenching around him, the uneven spasms quite beyond the pirate's control. Not that he could blame the man: if he'd been making love to Elizabeth, he doubted he'd have lasted as long even without the sort of stimulation that James had been providing Hector's arse.

As much as James would have liked to finish inside Elizabeth as well, he knew that he'd have to stop what he was doing and clean himself up first, and he was enjoying himself too much to want such an interruption. Besides, Elizabeth was crying out, continuing to impale herself on Hector as he caught his breath. James pounded into him, pushing Hector into Elizabeth, and even half-hard after ejaculating, he must have been enough for her, because she threw her head back and let out a shriek of pleasure that surely could be heard across the gun deck.

"That's very nice," muttered Jack, his eyes moving from Elizabeth's contorted features to James's sweat-streaked face. "I'll be wanting a turn in the middle some time, myself."

"If you earn it." That was Hector, groaning softly as he pushed back on James's still-rigid prick, disengaging his own from Elizabeth as she caught her breath. "For as long as you're on my ship --"

"My ship," Jack interrupted with an emphatic forward thrust of his hips.

"-- my ship," growled Barbossa, tensing, which made him clench delightfully around James once more.

"Gentlemen." Elizabeth still sounded gratifyingly breathless. "Are we not in the midst of a most valuable lesson about the virtues of sharing?"

When Jack did not reply, she pulled her hand away from him. "I haven't finished!" he protested.

"If you insist on having everything for yourself, Jack, you'll have to do this for yourself as well." Even in post-coital languor, her glare held a threat.

"But..." Jack looked to James for support, saw that James was still thrusting enthusiastically in and out of Hector, and sighed in frustration. "All right, then, our ship," he said, gazing beseechingly at Elizabeth.

James wasn't quite sure what Elizabeth murmured then, although it sounded remarkably like, "He can be taught."

"As you wish, madam." James withdrew himself from Hector's arse and waited as the other two men changed places, wiping himself clean. Hector looked more relaxed and at ease than James had ever seen him, and he suspected the cause was divided equally between Elizabeth's embraces and Jack's concession. James himself did not, in fact, mind which man he had underneath him if he could not have Elizabeth. He trusted that on another night he would get his chance.

"Just hand me that flask if you would, Hector," he said, nodding toward the oil he had set aside.

"I'll do better than that for ye," Hector replied with a snaggle-toothed grin. "Jack's required this service of me before, hasn't he?"

James imagined it had been quite some time since that had been the case, but Hector was quick and thorough in making Jack ready. The delay had cooled James's ardor slightly, which perhaps was no bad thing.

Jack's arse felt subtly different from Hector's as James thrust home: tighter, not quite as heated. Different, but still good. Jack's skin was saltier, too, when James bit at his neck.

"Watch your teeth, mate," said Jack, but James had felt his arsehole clench and knew that Jack merely feared to come too soon.

Elizabeth was gasping and moaning again, her hands wandering over both men's bodies as James thrust into Jack and Jack into her. If James couldn't probe her luscious hole himself, this was the next best thing; it was his motions, indirectly, that were bringing her such delight.

Hector had crawled around behind Elizabeth, settling where Jack had been. He did not try to bring Elizabeth's hand to his now-spent prick but instead reached to stroke her throat and shoulders. "Comfortable?" he asked her.

"Oh yes -- your bunk was well built for this," she gasped, arching as Jack freed one hand, resting all his weight on the other arm, and working it between himself and her.

"I never thought to share it with three others at once," Hector said in almost conversational tones, sounding quite pleased with himself. "One of the advantages of being the captain." His gaze shifted to Jack as if expecting the other pirate to object, but Jack was too focused on Elizabeth and the pleasure he was taking from her.

"And an advantage of no longer being dead." James winked at Hector, grinning. The entire situation was absurd -- that he should be the lover not only of his own onetime fiancé, and the pirate who had kidnapped her from Port Royal, and the pirate who had rescued her, but also the blacksmith-turned-pirate whom she had married, all of whom had spent time in the world beyond the world. He'd had to contend with sea monsters and sea goddesses and all manner of creature he'd have ridiculed as superstition a few months earlier.

And as Calypso had correctly guessed, James had never been more content. He bit down again on Jack's shoulder, feeling Jack quiver and buck beneath him, and laughed.

"Harder -- oh -- " Whether Elizabeth was speaking to himself or to Jack, James couldn't be certain, but he thrust more firmly, making Jack move in his own rhythm. The ship was rocking as well, heaving on the waves and giving them unexpected jolts, which added to his pleasure.

"You would seem to be enjoying yourself, Admiral." Barbossa was watching him now, James realized, without the usual distrust fixed on his features. He appeared to have a better appreciation of James's assets.

Nodding, James smiled at him. "If I can no longer command a fleet, this is an acceptable position in which to find myself. Quite on top."

He waited to see whether Jack would argue, but Jack was no longer making coherent sounds; he had been reduced to grunts. Even so, Jack retained enough control to squeeze quite firmly around James, whose own control was perilously close to fraying, watching Elizabeth as she closed her eyes and tilted her head into Hector's wandering hands. "From now on, instead of quarreling, we shall do this," Elizabeth decreed.

"Aye," agreed Hector, with a slow thoughtful nod.

Jack quivered and collapsed forward onto Elizabeth's bosom, his arse contracting around James's prick once more, milking out an orgasm that shuddered on for longer than James usually experienced.

"So do I," James added when he had caught his breath sufficiently to speak.

"Then we have an accord." Elizabeth gave them all a smile so triumphant that James wondered if this had not been her purpose all the time. "Shall we drink a toast to it?'

"Aye." Grinning, Hector slid a decorated pillow behind Elizabeth's head so that he could slip out. At the same time, James withdrew from Jack's arse and Jack, grunting, flopped to Elizabeth's side.

Fetching a goblet, Hector worked free the alligator hide wedged into the crack at the top of the barrel holding the Water of Life and pressed in a gold spigot pillaged from who knew where. Once the goblet was full, he capped off the spigot and returned to the bed.

"I shall have this first as well," he declared, and drank deeply. Elizabeth tilted her head to the side to watch him, as did Jack and James. After a few moments, Hector sighed happily. "First time since I returned from the dead my teeth haven't pained me." His skin looked healthier, too, the pockmarks faded, his cheeks less ruddy than glowing with health.

"My turn." Sitting up, Jack took the goblet from Hector and waved it in a circle, gesturing at each of them. "To piracy." He gulped down a swallow, cocked his head to the side, and passed the goblet to James. "I can't say as I feel any different."

"Perhaps you were already feeling quite content," said Elizabeth. She looked equally so, reclining on the embroidered pillow, and she waved away the cup when James offered it to her. "I must not. Not until after the child is born."

Nodding, James glanced into the cup, then took a swallow. He knew from Calypso that it would not restore him fully -- it would not break the agreement that allowed him to be here, now, among this company. But the Water was cool and fresh, and James found that he did not mind.

"To absent friends," he murmured. Elizabeth nodded, smiling wistfully. After a moment the others did as well.

"Now, Jack, you're due on watch," announced Hector, settling himself more comfortably at Elizabeth's side.

"I believe that, taking into account the time of our arrival in this cabin and the duties performed beforehand, Captain, you are due on watch," Jack replied. "And I might well ask, what is our ultimate destination?"